Community Gardening on City Land report has been published
Here is an overview of the main recommendations from City staff:
- Shift internal City oversight from Community and Social Services (CSSD) to Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services (RCFS).
- Formalize City-wide mandate for supporting gardening activities.
- Form an internal inter-departmental working group.
- Allocate 1 Full-Time City staff to manage the internal program, within existing resources.
Community is asking for:
- A clear timeline and process for 2025:
- For existing requests waiting for approval to move ahead
- For new initiative requests
- For community engagement on operations (which has not yet happened!)
- A clearer program name: “Community-led Planting Program” to capture the full scope of planting activities as they are all interconnected
- Commitment for additional staff time to support transition of this program from one department (that has the historical context and research) to a new department
Plus more!
You can read more about the details of all of the collective asks by clicking here.
How You Can Take Action This Week:
1) Email your City Councillors – use our template:
- Click here to find your Councillor & and their contact info
- Use this easy template guide to send an email to your Councillor!
- Template #1: Existing community gardeners waiting years for answers
- Template #2: New community gardeners waiting for this report to apply for new initiatives
2) Sign up to delegate at the Community Services Committee on April 22nd:
- Submit a written letter or visual presentation before tomorrow, Thursday, April 17th, at 4:00PM, or
- Sign up to delegate at the Committee Meeting, either virtually or in person, by no later than 8:30AM on Tuesday, April 22nd
- You can submit your written letter/visual presentation, or register to delegate, by sending an email to:
- Eric Pelot, Committee Coordinator –
eric.pelot@ottawa.ca, (613) 580-2424, ext. 22953
- Eric Pelot, Committee Coordinator –
3) Need support delegating? We can help!
Attend tonight’s delegation support session for CGN members!
Register here for our 30 minute delegation support session tonight, April 16th from 6:30-7:00PM, online via Zoom
Have questions or looking for support?
Please contact communitygardening@justfood.ca
Earth Day Mixer – April 26 – All Youth Welcome!
Come gather with Ottawa’s youth climate justice community to fuel our fight for a better future by celebrating climate wins with food, art and live music! 🍴🎨🎤
Buy tickets here!
($15 or Pay-what-you-can)
With your ticket you can:
- Taste some local vegetarian eats
- Join fun mingling games
- Contribute to a community art build
- Enjoy live music
Everyone is welcome!
- Your ticket fee will help cover the cost of this event, and will support future food futures events…but we want everyone to be there! Ticket prices are $15 or pay-what-you-can (even if that’s $0).
Who’s hosting?
- Food Futures is Ottawa’s newest youth voice for food justice issues. We advocate for policy change that supports our vision for a food future we can be proud of; one that centres social justice, equitable access, sustainable practices and community engagement.
If you want to join Food Futures, click here to learn more!
Growing Change: Front Yard Gardening Gets the Go-Ahead in Ottawa!
Front Yard Gardening Approved!
Exciting news! Ottawa City Council’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee has approved key policy updates that allow residents to grow food in their front yards and on residential boulevards. These changes will help to expand urban agriculture and food security in our city, and make it easier for residents to establish new front yard gardens.
What’s Changing?
Residents will be able to:
- Plant food directly in the soil on residential boulevards without permits needed.
- Build permanent raised beds (up to 45 cm tall), as a way to address concerns around soil quality and contamination.
- Use movable containers (to be installed seasonally, and removed for the winter months).
- Replace turf grass with alternative ground covers around fire hydrants, trees, and setbacks.
These changes come thanks to the dedicated efforts of local community members and representatives who spoke up for the right to grow food on public land parcels!
What’s Next and Ongoing?
Stay tuned, as on April 16th – City Council will vote on final approval of these recommendations and more information will then be available. However further advocacy is still needed, and there are still some key pieces on this policy to explore:
- In Fall 2025, city staff will meet with Community Expertise to reflect on the implications of height restrictions from this year’s growing season.
- The Environment Committee will explore considerations on the reduction of chemical pesticides, rodenticides, and herbicides.
- Expanding planting of edible fruit and nut trees through the Trees in Trust program will be further explored by Councillors.
- Delegates also encouraged further use of native plants and deep rooted perennials for use in ditch planting and naturalization projects, to aid in stormwater management and prevent erosion.
This is just the beginning, as further continued advocacy will be key in shaping the future of urban agriculture and community gardens. The support of Ottawa communities is needed to shape long-term land security and backing community gardening on a municipal level.
We appreciate your support and involvement, so stay tuned for more details to come after April 16th!
Have any questions or comments you’d like to share? Send them to communitygardening@justfood.ca!
Residential Boulevard Bylaw Updates coming March 27th
City Staff are presenting proposed updates to the Use and Care of Roads Bylaw at this coming Thursday’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee Meeting to address growing food in the residential boulevard.
In preparation for this meeting, Peoples Official Plan Plant Strategy Working Group met last week to discuss a collective approach to our asks for this bylaw update.
Here are the 5 key updates we are still seeking as part of this bylaw update:
- Increase plant height restrictions to allow for greater selection and varieties of plants grown in the residential boulevard, while still respecting safe sightlines.
- In setback areas, restrict plant height (recommended to 60cm) instead of restricting plant type (i.e. allow for plants other than turfgrass).
- Restrict the use of chemicals in the residential boulevard.
- Provide a mechanism by which residents can plant their own trees in the residential boulevard, with an approval process; increase variety of trees offered through Trees in Trust.
- Decrease setbacks for permanent structures/non-moveable containers where there’s no sidewalk from 1.5m to 1.0m
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
We recorded the presentation from March 18th Click here to view [approx 30 mins]
Can you take any of these next steps to support residents growing food in their residential boulevard?
1) E-mail your City Councillor:
- Use this e-mail template to send to your City Councillor before March 26th
- Find your City Councillor’s information here
2) Share widely!
- Get your circles mobilized to send letters of their own!
4) Looking for more detail?
- Check out these documents for additional information:
- a) Residential Boulevard Bylaw Update: Requested Changes
b) “Why I care” – prepared by Nadine O, for inspiration
- a) Residential Boulevard Bylaw Update: Requested Changes
5) Have questions or need support?
- E-mail communitygardening@justfood.ca with:
– any questions or comments you have
– details if you have set a meeting with your Councillor
– if you are interested to sign up as a delegate on March 27th
– request for support on writing letters, delegating, speaking to Councillors, etc
We have come so far and can win this!
Please share amongst your circles and spread the message far and wide!
Resident Meeting March 18 2025: Garden Boulevard Bylaw Update
This meeting, brought to you by the Peoples’ Official Plan Plant Strategy Working Group, with this policy piece led by For Our Kids Ottawa/Gatineau and Just Food, is your chance to get involved!
March 18th, 7:30 pm – 8:30pm via Zoom
Click Here to Register
Call for your feedback on proposed changes to bylaws
The City of Ottawa is updating a bylaw that will affect how you can grow food in your residential boulevard (the front of your front yard).
- Removing the existing prohibition on growing food in the residential boulevard
- Allowing moveable containers within the residential boulevard on a seasonal basis
- Requiring residents to sign an online letter of acknowledgement for growing food in the residential boulevard
What’s still missing from these updates:
- Allow residents to use soil retaining structures (i.e. raised beds, soil retaining walls)
-
- All residential homes in Ottawa should be allowed to have non-removeable, low to the ground, permanent beds using long-lasting materials (i.e. wood, large stone, etc) to retain healthy soil to grow plants, including food
- There are thousands upon thousands of homes that already have raised beds (not just containers) and retaining walls in their front yards, including in the boulevard
- Snow plows are already managing to clear sidewalks and roads where these structures have already existed for many decades
-
Additional recommendations:
- Allow residents to plant their own trees in the boulevard
-
-
- Planting fruit/sap/nut trees in the boulevard at the residents’ expense, given the limited variety of trees from the Trees in Trust Program
-
- Develop a clear outreach strategy for communications
-
-
- A clear plan for communications that will include a letter when the bylaw is passed
- Ensure materials are available in multiple languages
-
- Update height measurements for objects farther than 1m away from the road/curb
-
- For yards that have larger residential boulevards, height restrictions should be increased for areas that are past 1m away from the curb/road/sidewalk, to allow greater flexibility in plant options and biodiversity while not impacting sight lines
To let the City know why you think this is important:
Click here to fill out this survey now!
Before Dec 31st, 2024
Background information:
Last year, Ottawa’s City Council passed amendments to the Use and Care of Roads By-law (By-law No. 2003-498) which allowed residents to plant gardens within the right-of-way, but did not allow for growing food. Through community efforts and advocacy, City Council directed staff to return with an updated plan to review allowing food to be grown in the right-of-way. For more information on this background, click here.
What is the Residential Boulevard?
The residential boulevard, also known as the right-of-way, is the City-owned parcel that is part of every property owner’s land, to allow for utilities, road/sidewalk maintenance, etc.
To view the right-of-way on your property, visit GeoOttawa here, enter your address, and click this icon in the top right corner.
